


You'll Forget That I Was Here

by bettycoopergal



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, High School, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-01-30 04:29:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 16,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12646110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettycoopergal/pseuds/bettycoopergal
Summary: Betty Cooper had perfected the image of perfection, so much so that no one at Riverdale High even knew who she really was. But when her best friend Veronica found her a date to the upcoming dance, she learned that maybe there was someone who could see past the facade--and maybe she wanted him to.TW for anxiety, mild depression, and self-harm. Stay safe friends!bettycoopergal.tumblr.com





	1. An Unexpected Date

Betty Cooper turned the radio dial in her 2001 Honda Accord and let the music drown out the intrusive thoughts that had been slowly threatening to overcome her.

_I choose my eyes wide open_

_and my heart half-broken every time_

_over the gilded golden shackle_

_and the reassuring sentimental lie._

She forced a smile to her lips, hoping that if she held it long enough it would become true. But lately she just hadn’t had the luxury of genuine happiness.

 

As Betty turned into the Riverdale High parking lot, her knuckles turned searing white from her iron grip on the steering wheel. She knew that if she weren’t driving, her nails would be piercing into the surface of her palms.

 

On the highway she had rolled down the car windows, letting the wind whip her hair in a thousand different directions, but now she reluctantly rolled them back up for fear of someone judging her for the music she liked. It was something she was in the habit of doing—fearing what people thought of her, hiding behind the façade of _unbothersome Betty Cooper_.

 

If her mother had taught her anything growing up, it was that the biggest failure in life was for someone to dislike her. She had to keep her weight down, never leave the house without makeup on, only speak when she was spoken to.

 

It was all about being _perfect_.

 

But if Betty Cooper knew one thing, it was that she wasn’t and would never be perfect. So she just had to find ways to make her mother believe that she was. She had to find ways to hide herself, to hide the parts of her that didn’t align with her mother’s vision.

 

One method of doing so was curling her fingers into her palms and letting her nails sink into the skin. It probably wasn’t healthy, she knew, but it got the job done. One quick stab of pain and everything she’d pent up could be released.

 

And she would take that coping mechanism to her grave if she had to—whatever it took to please Alice Cooper.

 

Betty made one last attempt to focus on the words singing out of the speakers as she pulled the car into an open spot in the parking lot.

 

_This river bends into the sea._

_Its course is fixed and so are we,_

_it seems._

Here, in the confines of her car, nothing could touch her. In a minute, she would have to face a sea of people who thought they knew her. In a minute, she would have to put on the mask. But here, if only for a minute, she could truly be herself.

 

_But me I’m just a ditch digger._

_When I’m gone_

_you’ll forget that I was here._

She exhaled loudly as she pulled her wind-swept hair into her signature tight ponytail and pulled the key out of the ignition. She stepped out of the car and closed the door.

 

 _One day at a time_ , she thought to herself. _If I can just make it through today…_

 

Betty’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud squeal and the familiar sound of high heels clicking on the pavement. She turned just in time to see raven locks before she was being engulfed in a suffocating hug.

 

“Hey V,” she said, patting her best friend on the back softly as she leaned into the embrace.

 

“B,” Veronica said, pulling back to meet Betty’s eyes. “So I know you said you didn’t want to go to the dance, but what if I said I _found you a date_?” The end of her sentence went up an octave, and she jumped up and down while gripping Betty’s arms to punctuate it.

 

“Uh, I… You what?” Betty stuttered, at a loss.

 

Veronica rolled her eyes, taking her lack of response as protest. “Okay I know it’s not ideal, but Riverdale’s own Holden Caulfield told Archie he’d take you, and, under the circumstances, it’ll just have to do!” She clapped her hands together for emphasis.

 

Betty was shell-shocked. Her heart felt heavy in her chest. A variety of emotions flickered through her—embarrassment that someone had to be talked into taking her to the dance, sadness that Veronica clearly pitied her enough to concoct this plan, anxiety over the fact that she would have to go to a social event that she had expressly stated she didn’t want to attend. Mostly she was mortified that Veronica went through her boyfriend to convince his best friend to be her date. She was somewhat acquainted with Jughead Jones, “Riverdale’s own Holden Caulfield” as Veronica had called him, but they certainly weren’t _friends_. Betty really didn’t know much about him at all. She did know, however, that he kept to himself. He was the school’s resident loner. So there was no way that he actually wanted to take her to the dance. Archie must have bribed him with something. And that made Betty feel like the dirt on the bottom of her shoe.

 

But, despite her urge to throw up all over Veronica’s polished shoes, she couldn’t tell her best friend how she was actually feeling. This was perfect, unbothersome Betty Cooper that Veronica was talking to, after all. So she pierced the skin of her palms with her fingernails, forced a smile on her face, and choked out a “sounds great” through her teeth, wishing more than anything that she could lock herself in her car for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song credit: "Ditchdigger" by Tyler Lyle.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think!


	2. The Watcher

“Jug… Jug, buddy?”

 

Jughead Jones was absentmindedly pulling books out of his locker at Riverdale High when his best friend’s voice snapped him out of his reverie.

 

“Sorry, Arch. What was that?” he asked, turning to give Archie his full attention.

 

“I said Veronica told me that the girls will be expecting us around 7 Friday night,” he said. “We’re picking them up at Betty’s house.”

 

It had perhaps never struck Jughead more than in this moment just how different he and his best friend were. Here was Archie, leaning casually against the lockers in his varsity jacket, talking about plans for the school dance, while Jughead was dressed in all black and lamenting the fact that he would have to be anywhere near a social event. He had been surprised when Archie had approached him a few days ago with a plea to take Betty Cooper as his date, but then realization had set in. If Betty didn’t have a date, she wouldn’t go. And if Betty didn’t go, Veronica wouldn’t go. Thus, Archie’s desperation had suddenly made a lot of sense. But Jughead had already made plans to kick back on his couch at the trailer and have a Tarantino marathon on Friday night, so it was going to take a lot more than Archie’s puppy-dog eyes to convince him.

 

When Jughead didn’t respond, Archie thought he wasn’t paying attention again. “Jug!” he all but shouted, waving his hands in front of his friend’s face.

 

“I’m here, I’m listening,” Jughead sighed.

 

“Look, I know that you didn’t want to do this, but don’t forget that you’re getting something out of it, alright?”

 

Jughead nodded, remembering the deal they had struck. “So, 7 on Friday. Got it,” he said. Archie seemed satisfied by the response, so Jughead turned on his heel and headed off toward his chemistry class. “See you later, man,” he said without looking back.

 

As he turned the corner while walking to his classroom, Jughead thought about the awkwardness of his current predicament. He had known Betty when they were young, and the three of them—Jughead, Betty, and Archie—often had play-dates as children, a result of the fact that Archie and Betty were neighbors. But even then Archie had really been the one doing all the socializing. Jughead had always just been there, wondering how his best friend could be so casual around a girl like Betty.

 

And once they had started to grow up, Jughead’s world on the Southside had begun to seem so incompatible with the white-picket-fence life of the Northsiders. As a result, for years he had refused to go anywhere near the Northside unless it was for school. Archie had been the only friend who stayed in Jughead's life, always inviting him over for dinner and letting him have odd jobs at his dad's construction site, ever the loyal best friend.

 

So all Jughead really knew about Betty Cooper was what he could remember from childhood—that her hair had always reminded him of the way that sunshine looked when it filtered through the clouds, that her mother had taught her how to bake the most delicious chocolate chip cookies but had never let Betty eat them herself, that she was always smiling even when she was sad.

 

But those fleeting memories felt like a lifetime ago, a lifetime that included his dad falling into alcoholism and his mother leaving Riverdale with his sister in tow. It had destroyed Jughead, and if it weren’t for Archie and Fred Andrews, he would probably be running with the Southside Serpents right now.

 

The time between his childhood and his teenage years had changed Jughead. He was a totally different person today than he was as that naïve little kid afraid to talk to the blonde-headed angel who was neighbors with his best friend. So he couldn’t pretend that he knew anything about the Betty Cooper who walked the halls of Riverdale High now. She was a stranger.

 

The door to his chemistry classroom had just come into view when Jughead felt someone watching him. He slowed his pace. Cautiously, he glanced to his right and then to his left. Finally, his eyes landed on the most piercing pair he had ever seen, and they were looking straight at him.

 

It was Betty Cooper, _stranger_ Betty Cooper, and there was no telling how long she’d been watching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys! This is my first ever fanfic, so go easy on me. :)
> 
> Also, if you want, you can follow me on Tumblr. It's bettycoopergal!


	3. See Through

_Shoot_ , Betty thought, averting her eyes to the ground. She had been unabashedly staring at Jughead as he walked down the hallway, and now she was squirming under his gaze. _Way to make him think you’re even more of a freak than he already does_. She shook her head and clenched her fists.

 

Betty couldn’t bring herself to look and see if he was still watching her, so she turned around and proceeded to dig through her locker for something— _anything_ —to make herself seem busy. She settled on a purple pen that had long since run out of ink, grabbing it from its dusty spot at the back of the locker and pulling it out dramatically. She wanted to put on a show just in case Jughead was still watching her, because she couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing than him thinking she had nothing better to do than to stare at him.

 

When she shut her locker door after depositing the pen into her backpack, Betty nearly jumped a foot in the air. Jughead was there, standing next to her.

 

Had he been there the whole time? The locker door had blocked the view of his face, so there was no telling how long he had waited for her to finish her search for the stupid pen.

 

“H-hey,” Betty said, struggling to keep her tone even.

 

“Hey Betty,” Jughead said. He leaned against the lockers next to her and gave her one of his signature smirks.

 

Betty didn’t know why, but his expression made her want to sink into a hole and wither away. He probably thought she was so pathetic. Here he was, being forced into taking her to the dance, and she couldn’t even manage to speak one word to him without stuttering.

 

She looked down at her shoes and re-clenched her fists, willing her eyes to remain dry. She couldn’t come up with a single thing to say to him, and she knew he was probably thinking about how much he was dreading Friday night.

 

“Betty,” Jughead said. His tone was much softer than before, and it was laced with something that Betty couldn’t quite place. She hesitated to look at him, wondering what she might find when she did.

 

Slowly, she shifted her gaze upward. Jughead was standing even closer to her than he had been before, which startled her, but even more surprising was the expression on his face. His eyes were boring into her as if they were searching for something.

 

He almost looked… _concerned_. Could that have been what she heard in his voice seconds ago?

 

“Are…” Jughead started, visibly swallowing.

 

 _He seems nervous_ , Betty thought. _Maybe I’m not the only one._

 

He glanced downward before continuing, and his expression morphed into one of confusion. Betty followed his gaze, which she now recognized was transfixed on her clenched fists.

 

Immediately, before Jughead could even bat an eye, Betty yanked her hands away from his line of sight and clasped them behind her back. He looked back up at her then, furrowing his eyebrows.

 

“Sorry, were you saying something?” she said sweetly. As if jolted by an electric shock, Betty had snapped back into her typical façade of perfection. She plastered on her classic 100 Megawatt smile and batted her eyelashes, waiting for Jughead to respond.

 

He looked as though he’d been slapped across the face, and, unlike Betty, he didn’t recover quickly. “I-uh… I just, um…” he stammered, trying to regain his composure.

 

But before he could continue, the bell rang. They were both going to be tardy for their next class if they didn’t enter their rooms in the next minute.

 

Tightening her ponytail, Betty tilted her head and widened her smile at Jughead, if that was even possible. “I guess we better go,” she said. “Wouldn’t want to be late for class.”

 

But Jughead just stood there with his mouth open, glued to the spot. She reached over and patted his shoulder, then brushed past him to walk to her classroom.

 

As Betty glided down the hallway, she didn’t look back. She waited until she turned the corner to open her palms and assess the damage. Upon seeing no blood, she exhaled.

 

That short interaction had been enough to drain her of all her energy for the rest of the day. She hadn’t had an actual conversation with Jughead since they were little kids playing make believe in Archie’s backyard. Normally, Betty was good at small talk and polite conversation, but for some reason his presence had unnerved her.

 

No one had ever made her feel that way before—so _exposed_. And he had done it without really doing anything at all. It was like he could just _see_ her.

 

For a second, she had even thought that he had seen all the way through her to her darkest secret.

 

But she couldn’t let that happen. She would just have to be more careful next time.

 

Betty Cooper wasn’t going to let down her guard again, and especially not around Jughead Jones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jughead is cute when he's concerned.


	4. That Smile

_What just happened?_

 

It was all Jughead could think about as his chemistry teacher droned on while he sat at the back of the classroom. Betty had seemed so frazzled when he had first approached her, but then it was like something in her had… snapped.

 

He pretended to focus on the open textbook in front of him, but really he was wracking his brain trying to think about what could have caused Betty’s sudden mood shift. The only thing he could come up with was that she had read the confusion on his face when he had caught sight of her fists.

 

But why? Why would that have affected her so much?

 

As far as Jughead could tell, Betty’s clenched fists were a nervous tick, like nail-biting or foot-tapping. It was a weird habit, he’d give her that, but it’s not like it was any big deal. He just didn’t understand why she had freaked out so much about him noticing it.

 

And then…

 

Jughead shuddered. The way she had looked back up at him, with that fake smile and that sickeningly sweet voice, had been enough to make his skin crawl. It was just so _sudden_. If she had started the conversation that way, maybe he wouldn’t have been so disturbed by it. But she hadn't. She had switched from nervous and vulnerable to overly polite and closed off in a matter of seconds, and it had startled him.

 

The worst part was that Archie and lots of others around school always talked about Betty as though that polite version was exactly who she was—all smiles, all sweetness, all perfection. According to everyone else, she was the typical girl-next-door, the one you would bring home to your parents but would never really hang out with outside of class unless it was for a study session.

 

But Jughead had always known that such a description couldn’t possibly be the whole truth. People weren’t that one-dimensional. And, besides, from what he could remember about Betty from childhood, he didn’t believe for one second that she wasn’t a fun person to spend time with. Even as a kid, he had loved being around her. And no, it hadn’t been about the cookies she had brought to their play-dates. That had always been Archie’s reason for wanting to spend time with Betty, but not Jughead’s.

 

Though he would never admit it, what he remembered liking about her the most was her smile. It had never failed to mirror itself on his own face, which was a rarity for such a shy and lonely kid.

 

And that’s why their recent interaction bothered Jughead so much. He had no idea where that bright smile he remembered had gone. In their brief conversation, he had failed to see anything written across Betty’s features even resembling it.

 

He wanted more than anything to bring it back.

 

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of class, Jughead jumped out of his desk, gathered his books, and ran out of the classroom. He looked around, finally catching sight of Betty at the end of the hallway. She was walking toward the double doors that led to the parking lot at a pretty quick pace. Wanting to catch her before she made it to her car, he sprinted after her.

 

But when Jughead finally made it outside just moments later, Betty was nowhere to be found. He sighed and ran his fingers through the hair trapped under his beanie. They would have to have a real conversation sometime, even if it was only so that he could gather information about the color of her dress for the dance. He just hoped she wasn’t avoiding him.

 

He readjusted the strap of his backpack on his shoulder and turned in the direction of Archie’s car. Since he and his dad only had the one pickup truck, Jughead had been carpooling with Archie all year.

 

Typically, Jughead would arrive at the car well before Archie stopped socializing with his classmates to leave the school building, so he would always wait around until his friend came out. But today it looked like he had company.

 

There, standing with her elbow rested on the hood of the car and her legs crossed at the ankles, was Veronica Lodge.

 

“Ah, Jughead,” she said, examining the tips of her fingernails.

 

“Veronica,” he responded by way of greeting.

 

She finally made eye contact with him, glancing downward at his appearance and then back up to his face.

 

“Is there a reason you’re waiting here? Archie normally takes at least twenty minutes before he comes out,” he said flatly. He always felt a little wary around Veronica. It was something about her demeanor.

 

She didn’t say anything at first, simply narrowing her eyes in scrutiny. But then, as if deciding something, her facial expression lightened and she clapped her hands together. “No, no, I wasn’t waiting for Archie. I wanted to talk to _you_ ,” she said.

 

He gave her a baffled look. She smirked, throwing her perfectly straightened hair over her shoulder. “I just wanted to talk to you for a minute about the dance Friday,” she clarified.

 

Jughead rolled his eyes. “I can get all the information I need from Betty,” he said as he dropped his backpack on the pavement. “Unless you want to give me the don’t-hurt-her-or-I’ll-kill-you talk.”

 

He grinned at his own joke, but Veronica wasn’t laughing.

 

“Listen, Donnie Darko, cause I’m only gonna say this once. Betty Cooper is the best human being this earth has ever had the pleasure of coexisting with. She is a literal ray of sunshine, the light of my life, and if I catch you joking around about hurting her again, I’ll have your head on a stick before you even know what’s happened to you. I may look like I wouldn’t break a nail, but I’d break all ten if it meant murdering the scum who hurt Betty Cooper.”

 

Jughead was stunned into silence. He swallowed loudly, unsure of what to say. Veronica just stood there, maintaining eye contact.

 

“What, are you mute or something?” she snapped.

 

“N-no, sorry,” he said sheepishly. She looked unimpressed, so he nodded. “I get it.”

 

Veronica crossed her arms, still staring. She looked him up and down once more, and then she turned to saunter back toward the school. Just as she began to walk away, Jughead reached out and grabbed her arm. She spun around with a look of utter indignation and popped her mouth open, no doubt to yell at him.

 

“Veronica,” he said quietly, cutting her off. “I… I won’t hurt her.”

 

There was deafening silence, and Veronica was looking at Jughead with an unreadable expression. At first, he thought that she was going to tell him off. But, after a moment, her features softened.

 

“I believe you,” she said. He nodded.

 

He didn’t know why he felt so relieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I write this, the more I get the feeling that Jughead doesn't even realize how much he cares about Betty. He keeps claiming he doesn't really know her, but maybe that's just what he tells himself to avoid how he feels.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! Comments are always appreciated!


	5. Such a Simple Question

When Betty finally turned onto her street on the way home from school, she was exhausted. She had always been a diligent student, but lately her classes had been draining her in a way she’d never experienced before. Just focusing on one conversation for more than five minutes seemed to be a challenge for her these days.

 

She parked in the driveway right behind her mother’s car, and for the life of her she couldn’t muster up the energy to open the door and get out. Betty knew what would await her as soon as she walked into the house: a barrage of questions that she would have to answer and a series of scrutinizing facial expressions that she would have to ignore. Alice Cooper had really been on some sort of a power trip lately, and it had begun to feel like she was just pulling things out of thin air to judge Betty by. She knew her mother loved her, of course she did, but sometimes the woman got carried away. Maybe she just didn’t think about how her criticism might affect her daughter. Maybe it was just her way of showing she cared.

 

But for as many excuses as Betty could muster for her mother’s parenting style, she still couldn’t convince herself to face her today. School had been particularly grueling, and that unfortunate interaction with Jughead was still fresh on her mind. She was a little down in the dumps, to say the least, and Alice Cooper would certainly not be any help.

 

She turned up the volume on the radio, noticing that the same song she had heard before school this morning was just ending.

 

_Those who are mining for gold_

_get prematurely old_

_trying not to disappear._

 

Betty stared out the window, focused on nothing in particular.

 

_But me I’m just a ditch digger_

_When I’m gone_

_you'll forget that I was here_

Before she knew it, her face was wet with tears.

 

She reached up to touch the moisture on her cheeks. Why was she crying? It wasn’t like she was sad. She also wasn’t frustrated or bitter or upset, really. She was just…nothing. In that moment, Betty Cooper was nothing.

 

She looked down at the angry red wounds on her palms, still fresh from the events of the day. _Maybe I’m losing my mind_ , she thought.

 

Betty let out a long sigh and reached over to the door handle. She would have to face the music at some point. Before she could make another move, however, a _ding_ from her phone interrupted her. She reached into her backpack and dug around until she found it, then she pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was a text message from an unknown number.

 

**Hey Betty, this is Jughead. I got your number from Archie. I was wondering if you had a second to talk about Friday.**

She frantically wiped the tears from her face, as if Jughead could see her through the phone. Her heart was beating erratically. _Get it together, Betty_ , she thought. _What is wrong with you? Can you not even respond to one text message without freaking out?_ She shook her head, willing her anxiety to subside before she typed out a reply.

 

But as she thought about what to say, she found herself confused. _What does he mean “a second to talk about Friday?” Does he mean over text message? Or is he going to call me?_

This line of questioning was doing nothing to ease Betty’s anxiety, and it wasn’t like the answers were going to magically appear on her phone screen, so she shook her head again and typed a response.

 

**Hey Jughead. Sure.**

_Does that sound too cold_? Betty felt like it might come across a little snippy, so she erased it and quickly typed out a different message.

 

**Hey Jughead. Sure, that sounds good to me!**

_No, no, now it sounds too eager._

**Hey Jughead. Sure, that sounds good.**

_There._ She hit “send” before she could change her mind and closed out of the messaging app. Feeling drained from such a simple task yet again, she slumped back in her seat and let out a groan.

 

Betty was secretly hoping that Jughead was one of those people who took forever to respond to messages, because then she would be able to put him out of her mind for a while. Unfortunately, she had no such luck. His response was almost immediate.

 

**Cool, wanna talk in person or over the phone?**

Betty’s heart skipped a beat. Was he really going to drive all the way over to her house if she said she wanted to talk in person? What kind of person did that? Before she could ponder it further, another text popped up on the screen.

 

**I realize that might have seemed like a weird question. At the risk of sounding incredibly creepy, I may or may not be over at Archie’s house right now. And I may or may not be able to see you sitting in your car.**

Betty’s head snapped up, and her eyes flew over to the Andrews’ house. There, leaning with his back against the garage door, was Jughead. She had no idea how she hadn’t noticed him before when she had been staring absentmindedly out the window. She must have been in some kind of fog.

 

Jughead gave her a sheepish grin and a shrug, and Betty couldn’t help the way the corner of her mouth tilted up at how adorable he was. It almost made up for her embarrassment at the fact that he had possibly seen her crying.

 

Almost.

 

Betty stuffed her phone back into her bag and popped open the car door. When she did, Jughead started walking over to her driveway. He reached her right as she stepped out of the car and closed the door.

 

“Hey…” he said, looking at the ground and… blushing? Was _he_ embarrassed?

 

“Hey,” Betty said.

 

There was an awkward pause, and then they both said “Sorry” at the same time. It made Betty giggle, which in turn elicited a grin from Jughead.

 

“Why are _you_ apologizing?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed and lips upturned.

 

Now it was Betty’s turn to look sheepish. She shrugged and, looking at the ground, mumbled, “Just… I don’t know how much you saw.”

 

“Oh,” he said in recognition, his face turning serious. “Not much. Just you sitting in your car, really.”

 

She looked up at him then, relieved. His gaze was piercing, and it startled her. She looked down again to avoid eye contact.

 

“Oh, well… What did you want to talk about?” she asked, scraping a rock against the concrete underneath her shoe. “I haven’t picked out a dress yet, so I don’t know the color, if that’s what you’re wondering.” She crossed her arms uncomfortably.

 

Jughead didn’t respond at first, so Betty lifted her head back up to look at him. He was still staring intently at her, as if he was trying to decipher something.

 

“No, that’s not…” he said slowly and then gave a little huff. “I just wanted to check and make sure that you actually wanted to go with me. I know how Veronica can get, so I didn’t want you to be roped into something you didn’t want to do.”

 

Betty was sure that the shock she felt was written all over her face. Not once in all this mess had anyone asked her if she actually wanted to go to the dance in the first place. In fact she had explicitly told Veronica that she didn’t want to go. But, like she did with everything else, Veronica had ignored Betty’s wishes and had done what she thought was best for her. Just like her mother. Just like everyone in Betty’s life.

 

In this moment, she was so thankful for Jughead, a boy she barely knew. Sure, she remembered a little bit about him from when they were kids, like the fact that he had always made sure to thank her for the cookies she always brought him. But that was just a child’s natural kindness. This… this was something different. This was proof that he truly was a good guy.

 

 _Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to go with him to the dance after all_ , she thought. After all, he had lifted her mood with a few simple words. Why wouldn’t she want to spend more time with someone like that?

 

For the first time all day, Betty smiled—really _smiled_. “Yeah, Jughead. I’d love to go with you, if that’s alright.”

 

Jughead smiled too. It looked so genuine, and Betty couldn’t help but feel silly that she had ever been afraid to talk to him.

 

“Great,” he said, still grinning from ear to ear. “Well, I’ll let you get inside to your parents, but…thanks for talking to me.”

 

She nodded and tucked a hair behind her ear. As Jughead began to walk back to Archie's house, she felt words rising up in her throat threatening to spill out. “I’ll see you around?” she blurted.

 

He stopped, turning to tilt his head at her. “Yeah,” he said. His smile grew even wider. “Definitely.”

 

And then he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know how it happened, but this chapter started pretty sad and ended tooth-achingly sweet. I just want the best for my girl Betty Cooper, so I had to give her something to smile about. :)
> 
> Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!


	6. Something Lovely

“Dude,” Archie said, reaching across the car console to punch Jughead lightly in the arm. “What is _with_ you today? You’re acting super weird.”

 

Jughead smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s nice outside,” he said simply. Archie scoffed in disbelief, but Jughead wasn’t bothered. He crossed his arms and gazed out the window at the passing houses. They would be arriving at Riverdale High soon, and Jughead was actually not too upset about the prospect of going to school. He couldn’t stop thinking about the real Betty Cooper smile he had seen yesterday. He felt something akin to pride at having been the one to put it on her face, and he was looking forward to doing it again. Despite what he’d told her, Jughead had seen her desperately swiping at the tears on her face before he’d approached her. It had now become exceedingly clear to him that something was going on in Betty’s life—something bad. And, if she’d let him, he wanted to support her through it, even if that simply meant making her smile every now and then.

 

Archie looked over at him, mouth agape. “Jug,” he said, “are you… _smiling_?”

 

Archie let out a laugh, and Jughead reverted to his regular scowl. “Why don’t you take a picture, it’ll last longer,” he muttered under his breath, making Archie laugh even harder.

 

When they pulled into the parking lot, Jughead all but leapt out of the car. “Aw come on man, I’m just messing with you!” Archie shouted after him. He waved his hand without turning back around and continued to walk toward the school entrance.

 

Once he walked through the doors, Jughead made a beeline for the section of lockers where he had seen Betty yesterday. At this point, he wasn’t even going to bother pretending that he didn’t want to talk to her again. Even at the risk of ruining his brooding loner reputation, he wanted to ride this good mood he was in for as long as possible—and to do that, he would need to see that smile again.

 

It didn’t take long for Jughead to spot her. She was wearing a buttoned pink cardigan and a light blue skirt, and her hair was in that same tight ponytail she was always sporting. She seemed to be lost in thought, staring into her locker with a blank expression.

 

“Betty,” he said, walking up behind her. She jumped and inhaled sharply, and Jughead couldn’t help but chuckle at how cute it was.

 

“Oh, Jughead. Sorry, you startled me,” she said, letting out a breath. A flicker of a smile flashed across her face, but it wasn’t nearly enough for Jughead. He needed to find a way to make her laugh.

 

“You know, no matter how hard you stare at that locker, it’s not going to give you the answers to Miss Berger’s test. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

 

It was a weak joke at best, and Jughead knew it. But he had to start somewhere. The corner of Betty’s mouth tilted upward, and a small _huh_ escaped her lips. “Yeah, well, good thing I wasn’t looking for test answers,” she said, shutting the locker door matter-of-factly.

 

Jughead raised his eyebrows and gave her a goofy grin. “Oh really? What _were_ you looking for, then?”

 

Betty stilled, her hand frozen on the lock she’d just twisted. Her eyes reverted to the same emptiness Jughead had seen in them when she’d been staring into her locker earlier. But then the moment passed, and she turned to him with a little chuckle. “Try a _time portal_ ,” she said, tightening her ponytail and feigning a serious expression.

 

“And?” he asked, lowering his voice in mock secrecy. “Did it work?”

 

The corners of Betty’s lips rose ever so slightly, almost passing for a grin. Jughead felt incredibly lightheaded all of a sudden.

 

But, in a matter of seconds, her expression turned solemn again. “So to speak,” she said softly.

 

Jughead couldn’t hide the look of pure curiosity that crossed his features. This girl was really something, and all he wanted to do was understand what was going on in her head.

 

Just as he was about to say something else, the bell rang. Jughead’s mind flickered back to the sickeningly bright smile Betty had given him in this exact spot yesterday. He looked at her, wondering if she was thinking about the same thing.

 

A little light came into her eyes, and she gave him a small smile. It wasn’t as big as the one he’d seen yesterday, but it was genuine, and that was certainly a start. “See you later, Jughead,” she said, pulling on the strap of her backpack.

 

“Bye, Betty Cooper.”

 

When Betty gave him one final parting wave and turned around to walk to her class, Jughead jogged back to his locker. He pulled the door open and started rummaging around, looking for notebook paper. He found a piece with an essay on it that he’d written for his English class. As quickly as he could, he ripped a small strip off the bottom and pulled a pen out of his backpack. He scribbled something down and hurried off to his class, stuffing the scrap of paper into his pocket.

 

As he turned the corner, Jughead was grinning from ear to ear. He had a feeling that what he’d written was going to be the beginning of something amazing.

 

_If I could, I would make every thought that passes through your head something lovely._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting pretty excited about where this is going. Honestly just trying to hold onto something while I desperately try to forget what happened to Bughead Wednesday night. We'll get through this, friends!
> 
> Oh, and you're all wonderful people for reading, per usual. :)


	7. Perfect in Pink

Betty watched Veronica peel the orange she’d procured from her bag as she droned on about something Cheryl had said earlier. Her gaze followed the precise movements of the perfectly manicured nails as they sliced into the skin. None of the sticky liquid squirted out at her like it always did when Betty tried to eat oranges. _Figures_ , she thought idly.

 

“Hello, earth to B,” Veronica said, waving her arms dramatically. “What is up with you today? It’s like you’re not even here.”

 

Betty shrugged, hoping that her friend would continue talking like she always did. When Veronica didn’t break her stare and crossed her arms, she sighed. “I’m fine, V. Just a little tired. I was up late last night studying.” Her friend nodded, uncapping her water bottle and taking a sip before she continued her story.

 

Betty averted her eyes and looked back down to the half-peeled orange on Veronica’s tray across from her. That’s exactly how she felt right now: half-peeled, half-listened to, half-understood. Everyone was always asking her if she was okay, but no one ever really wanted to know the answer. If they did, they’d be able to read it plain as day in her eyes. They’d be able to hear it in her voice, see it written across her face in the painful smiles that never came close to reaching her eyes. These days, Betty wasn’t even trying that hard to hide her unhappiness. _Why bother?_ she was starting to think. _Would anyone care even if they saw it?_

 

Just as Betty was running through excuses in her mind to get up and leave, two trays plopped down on either side of the table next to them. Veronica squealed and extended her head so that Archie, sitting down in the empty seat beside her, could kiss her cheek. Betty turned to see Jughead hovering behind her.

 

“Hey,” he said, giving her an awkward wave. “Is this seat taken?”

 

Betty thought that was a funny thing to ask, considering he’d already put his tray on the table. “It is now,” she said, smiling up at him. Jughead and Archie never sat with them for lunch. They were always at the table with the rest of the football team—much, Betty could only guess, to Jughead’s annoyance. She knew that he wasn’t exactly the type to associate with the jocks, but Archie had always been his one exception. They were brothers, even as children, and Jughead seemed like the kind of person who didn’t take that bond lightly.

 

Betty realized suddenly that she’d been staring at Jughead’s face while zoning out. Her eyes snapped up to his, and a furious blush rose to her cheeks when she saw that he’d been staring right back at her.

 

Archie cleared his throat, causing them to snap out of their moment and look at him. “So…” he started, giving Jughead a cheeky grin that didn’t sit well with Betty. “Jug and I were wondering if you guys have picked out your dresses yet. We were gonna go look at corsages later today.”

 

A lump formed in Betty’s throat as she struggled to keep her anxiety at bay. The dance was in three days, so of course the guys would need to buy the corsages soon. But Betty hadn’t figured out what she was going to wear yet. She’d planned on raiding her sister’s closet for old Homecoming dresses, since she really didn’t have the time or money to buy a new one (and she certainly didn’t want to ask her mother, who would probably take her dress shopping and criticize her into nothingness within an hour’s time). She hated to think that she’d have to tell Jughead she didn’t know what the color would be. She didn’t want to inconvenience him like that.

 

Veronica placed a hand on Archie’s forearm. “Oh, Archiekins, you are so forgetful. Don’t you remember? I’ve practically had my dress picked out since we started dating. It’s a deep green—signature Veronica Lodge.” Archie gave his girlfriend a sheepish look, and she ignored it, turning to Jughead. “As for Betty, I’m sure she’ll be wearing something in a shade of light pink. It’s kind of her thing.”

 

Betty blinked once, then twice, trying to keep her mouth from dropping open. _It’s kind of her thing_. The words played on repeat in her head, mocking her. She realized all at once that, somewhere along the way, she’d completely lost herself. Here was Veronica, her best friend, speaking for her like she wasn’t even present, like she wasn’t anything more than the shade of pink she wore on her body. _When did this happen?_ she thought, digging her nails into her palms. _When did I become invisible?_ She knew she was drawing blood, but it wasn’t working this time. _When did I become nothing?_ Normally, the pain cleared her mind, brought her back to reality, made her feel something that reminded her she was alive. But now, in this moment, all she felt was the black void she’d been staring into for the past few months. She had to get out of there.

 

She stood up abruptly, accidentally knocking Jughead’s cafeteria tray to the ground in the process. Her eyes darted, panicked, over to him. He didn’t budge, and it became clear to Betty that he had been watching her this whole time.

 

“I’m so s-sorry,” she choked, wiping her hands on her legs frantically. When she did, blood smeared across her thighs, and she gasped. Jughead’s eyes shot down to the bright red streaks, and his mouth fell open. But Betty didn’t wait around to see what would happen next. She ran, as fast as she could, to the only place she could think of that would be completely unoccupied right now. Barely able to see through the tears in her eyes, she sprinted down the halls of the school, knocking into people carelessly along the way.

 

Finally, she reached it: the supply closet beneath the stairs. She ran inside, slamming the door behind her, and immediately sunk to the ground. Her breaths were so shallow that she was gasping for air. She sunk her nails into her legs now, trying desperately to get control over the situation.

 

And then, everything went fuzzy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems that everything's finally bubbled up to the surface for Betty, huh? I hate to write about her like this, but I promise it gets better. She'll get there (with the help of a certain beanie-wearing boy, of course). :)
> 
> Let me know what you think! Thanks for all the support you've given me so far!


	8. Open the Door

Jughead’s reaction was instantaneous. He’d been watching Betty closely throughout the entire exchange, noticing her distant expression and her balled fists. Then, suddenly, she had jolted up from the table like Veronica had slapped her across the face. Jughead’s tray had been knocked to the ground, but, honestly, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off Betty. And when she bolted, he wasted no time popping up and running after her.

 

He didn’t wait around to see Veronica and Archie’s reactions, and he wondered as he sprinted after her if they were following behind him. Jughead saw Betty turn a corner, eliciting a “Watch it!” from Chuck Clayton as she bumped into him. He didn’t know why, but for some reason that comment made his blood boil. He shoved Chuck as he ran by, just for good measure.

 

When he reached the door to the supply closet that Betty had just slammed shut, Jughead hesitated. It was clear that she was upset, and she probably didn’t need to be alone right now, but he didn’t know how well-received his support would be. After all, they barely knew each other. Cracking a few jokes to make her smile was one thing, but comforting her in the middle of a tiny supply closet? That had a level of intimacy to it.

 

Jughead looked back over his shoulder, searching for Veronica or Archie. When he didn’t see either down the hall, he scoffed. _Some friends_ , he thought bitterly. Sure, Archie had his moments, but sometimes his thick-headedness was a real problem. And Veronica was supposed to be Betty’s best friend, so where was she?

 

Jughead shook his head. He knew that if he wasn’t there for her now, then no one would be. So he turned the door handle slowly and peaked his head around the corner, bracing himself for a teary-eyed Betty Cooper.

 

What he found instead felt like a punch in the gut. Betty was curled into herself, backed into the corner of the supply shelves with her head thrown upward. There were blood smears on her legs, and she was gasping for air. If he hadn’t witnessed the events leading up to this moment, he would have thought that she’d been stabbed and was dying.

 

“Betty!” He ran over to her, dropping to his knees and immediately grabbing her hands to uncurl them.

 

She didn’t respond, still struggling to take in enough oxygen, and he briefly wondered if this was what it looked like for someone to hike up Mt. Everest and die of asphyxiation. Jughead felt completely helpless. “Betty, I need you to look at me, okay? I just need you to look at me,” he said, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

 

Her eyes darted downward to his. They were glassy and panicked, and in that moment Jughead wanted nothing more than to wrap her into his arms and hold her until she was okay. But he knew that any physical touch beyond holding her hands might not be the best idea, so he just continued to talk to her. “Just… just count to ten with me, okay? Can you do that?”

 

Betty didn’t give him any sort of affirmation, but he could tell that he had her attention. “R-ready?” he asked, swallowing thickly. He thought back to the psychology class he’d taken last year, trying to remember if counting to ten was even the right thing to do when someone was having a panic attack. Surely that’s what this was—he’d never seen one before, but it fit the description. Watching it happen in person was more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.

 

“One,” Jughead started. He saw Betty’s lips form into a small “o,” and it gave him the confidence to continue. “Two,” he said, squeezing her hands after hearing her make the sound with him. “Three.” Betty’s voice came out in a gasp, but she was finally forming the words with him. “Four,” they said together. Jughead noted that her breathing was starting to even out, her chest rising and falling more rhythmically. “Five.” She was speaking much more clearly now, and Jughead stopped counting, letting her do the rest on her own.

 

As Betty finished, articulating the “ten” with a quiet sigh, Jughead let go of her hands and maneuvered himself so that he was at her side, his back leaned against the shelves next to her. They were both silent for a few minutes. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, but he knew that it would be best to let her speak when she was ready.

 

Finally, Betty broke the silence. “Jug, thank you,” she said. Her voice was small, and Jughead had the overwhelming urge again to wrap his arms around her. But he resisted, settling for the warm contact of her arm against his as they sat side by side.

 

“I didn’t do anything,” he said, looking at her with soft eyes.

 

Betty gave a sad smile. “You must think I’m insane now,” she said, laughing humorlessly.

 

Jughead furrowed his eyebrows and turned his body so that he was fully facing her. “Betty, you can’t help what just happened to you. You aren’t insane. You’re hurting, and all I want to do is help.”

 

Tears welled up in her eyes, and for a second he worried that he’d said the wrong thing. But, much to his surprise, she reached her arms out and pulled him into a hug, burying her head into his chest.

 

Jughead had never been a touchy guy. In fact, he hardly ever had physical contact with people at all. Usually, his gut reaction to unwanted hugs was to involuntarily stiffen. But, when Betty’s arms wrapped around his neck, his body didn’t hesitate. He actually _wanted_ this hug, and he returned it with such tenderness that it surprised even him.

 

“Betts,” Jughead whispered, the nickname slipping out like it was the most natural thing in the world. He could feel his shirt growing wet with what he could only imagine were Betty’s silent tears. His heart ached for her. He wanted her to talk to him, to tell him what was going on, but he knew that conversation might be too much for her right now. “You don’t have to say anything, but I want you to know… I’m here, okay? I… I want to be there for you. Will you let me do that?”

 

Jughead could sense Betty’s hesitation, and he didn’t blame her. They weren’t really friends, and here he was witnessing her in a vulnerable state that he doubted she even let her closest friends see.

 

She looked up at him then, her hair disheveled and her eyes wide and misty. Even in this state, Jughead couldn’t deny that Betty Cooper was a vision.

 

“Are you sure?” she asked.

 

He was taken aback by the question. “I’ve never been more sure of anything, Betty Cooper.”

 

And then, she smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW I'm a cheeseball. I just love these two, I can't help it.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	9. A Milkshake for Your Troubles

It was crazy, right? It’s all Betty could think about as she stared into her milkshake. Across from her was Jughead Jones, the kid she’d sort of known years ago who had grown into a complete mystery of a guy—a practical stranger who had now seen her darkness. He’d been so sweet to her in the storage closet, not pushing her to tell him anything she didn’t want to. But he _had_ expressed a desire to know those things she was afraid to tell him, and that floored Betty. How he could have seen her in that state and still wanted to have anything to do with her, she didn’t know.

 

And yet, here she was, sitting across from the guy in question at a lonely booth in the back of Pop’s.

 

Betty sighed, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the table. She’d been reluctant to leave the safety of the storage closet, but Jughead had been so convincing.

 

“Why don’t we skip your classes for the rest of the day and just go to Pop’s? Come on, my treat,” he’d said after her eyes had dried.

 

“Jug, we just ate lunch.”

 

He had given her a look then that had made her heart skip a beat—like he could see right through her. “Betty, come on. I know you didn’t eat any of your lunch,” he’d whispered.

 

She had averted her eyes from him then. “So?”

 

“Don’t do that.”

 

Jughead’s words had startled her, and when she’d looked back up at him, her will had bent at the mere sight of the determination in his eyes.

 

“Don’t dismiss yourself like you aren’t important.” He had stared at her long and hard. “Now, we’re going to get up, leave this closet, and walk straight out the doors of the school to Pop’s. I’m going to buy you some food, and you’re going to eat it, Betty Cooper, because I don’t just go around buying food for people every day. Got it?”

 

She had nodded, he had helped her up, and now here they were. Betty just couldn’t believe she’d agreed to skip school. Jughead had this weird affect on her, made her feel like she could do anything around him and he’d still see her the same way. It was something about his unassuming demeanor, something about the way he carried himself. Even in the limited interactions they’d had, Betty thought that he was maybe the most non-judgmental person she knew.

 

There were so many people in Betty’s life that looked at her like she was a little speck in a petri dish. Part of the reason that she put on her façade of perfection was that she knew people’s opinions of her would change if she was even the slightest bit off her mark—especially her mother’s.

 

So Jughead, who was perhaps the exact _opposite_ of Alice Cooper, was a breath of fresh air for Betty.

 

And maybe it was the exhaustion from her panic attack, or maybe it was the feeling of a full meal in her stomach for the first time in days, or maybe it was just _him_ , but for some reason Betty thought that maybe she was finally ready to talk.

 

As if he could read her mind, Jughead broke the silence. “Do you get them often?”

 

Betty didn’t have to ask to know he was talking about the panic attacks. She nodded. “I’ve always struggled with them, but never this often or this bad. Lately everything’s just been…”

 

Jughead’s face softened. “Too much?” he guessed.

 

“Something like that.”

 

Silence fell over them again, and Betty watched as Jughead lifted his beanie briefly to run a hand through his hair. She could tell he was nervous, seemingly wanting to say something. The sincerity of the movement almost made her smile.

 

“Betty…” he started. Her heart dropped as she noticed his gaze lingering on her hands where they rested on the table. She swallowed, and his eyes lifted back up to hers. “Can I?”

 

She didn’t respond, looking downward to avoid eye contact. Jughead must have taken her silence as permission, because he reached over and gently placed his hands on top of hers. His touch was tender as he turned them over to reveal the angry red marks on her palms. Betty hadn’t had time to clean the wounds properly, and her fingernails had cut deeper into the skin than they ever had before, so the sight was scary even to her.

 

Betty bit the inside of her cheek to keep from tearing up. Her palms were throbbing dully, but the look on Jughead’s face was enough to make the wounds feel fresh. His expression morphed from one of shock to anger to sadness, all in a moment, and his eyes began to mist.

 

Abruptly, Jughead stood up from the booth, pulling Betty with him. He led her to the counter with his hand in hers and motioned to Pop, asking him for a first aid kit. While they waited, he turned to look her in the eye. She nearly crumbled under his gaze. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so he closed it again.

 

When Pop returned to the counter with a small first aid kit, Jughead still hadn’t let go of her hand. He thanked Pop and took the kit, guiding Betty to the women’s restroom.

 

“Guy coming in!” he yelled, swinging the door open. If the situation weren’t so heavy, Betty would have found it funny.

 

Thankfully, the room was vacant, so Jughead led her over to one of the sinks and began to run some warm water. He carefully held her hands under the faucet, rubbing away the dried blood with his thumbs. The water agitated the cuts and sent searing pain through her hands, but Betty didn’t say anything. She was just overwhelmed by Jughead’s kindness.

 

Once he was done washing away the blood, he dried her hands with paper towels, wiped the cuts with antiseptic, and placed bandages on her palms. Betty winced at the sting of the treatment, but she kept her eyes on Jughead, not letting the tears come.

 

When he was finished, he turned around and leaned against the sink counter. He stared at the line of stalls, apparently at a loss for words. Betty stood next to him and ran her fingers along the new bandages. She waited, knowing that Jughead would speak when he was ready.

 

“Betts,” he started, still not looking at her. “This is not… I wish you wouldn’t…” Betty watched his face scrunch up as if he was trying not to cry. He huffed and turned to meet her eye. “Why?”

 

Betty thought that it was the most earnest question she’d ever heard. She shook her head, wishing she had a simple answer. “I don’t know, Jug. I just get so… overwhelmed sometimes. And, I don’t know, everything sort of goes… dark. The pain, it… It brings me back to reality.”

 

She twiddled her fingers. It was the most honest Betty had been to anyone in her entire life, and she was terrified of how Jughead would react. She felt a little insane, telling this boy she barely knew about her darkest secret. She hoped beyond hope that she wouldn’t regret it.

 

Just as she was thinking that maybe her worst fears were going to come true, Betty felt a hand fold around hers. She looked up at Jughead, and he smiled sadly at her. She was relieved to see that there was no pity or fear or judgment in his eyes—only care.

 

“You’re not crazy,” he said. _There he goes again, reading my mind_ , Betty thought. “You’re… hurting. And I’m so sorry for that, Betty. You don’t deserve it.”

 

She nodded, feeling tears threatening to well up again.

 

“But… You’re not alone, okay? Not anymore. And this…” he said, brushing his thumb across the back of her hand. “You don’t have to do this. I know we haven’t been friends for very long, but I’m here for you. Talk to _me_ instead of doing _this_. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me, okay? Will you do that?”

 

Tears were rolling down Betty’s face now, but she didn’t make any move to wipe them away. “Okay,” she said, unable to get anything else out.

 

Jughead looked at her, making sure she didn’t want to say more, and then pulled her in for a hug. She melted into his arms instinctually.

 

“Juggie,” she whispered. He felt a smile forming on his lips at the nickname, feeling like he had finally broken down her walls.

 

“Yeah, Betts?” he asked.

 

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was the hardest chapter to write so far, because I felt like it was super important to get a good dialogue going. It may seem weird that Betty and Jug are getting so deep so quickly, but I wrote it this way because I feel like Jughead can see right through Betty, and he's the type of person who wouldn't shy away from addressing her health and safety as soon as possible if he saw it in jeopardy.
> 
> That being said, don't worry--we're in for some lighter stuff pretty soon. This big talk just had to happen first!
> 
> As always, thanks for being fabulous readers. Much love!


	10. Turning the Tables

When Jughead walked through the doors of Riverdale High the next morning, he once again found his feet guiding him to Betty’s locker. He was wide awake now, but truth be told he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. He had accompanied Betty home after their impromptu visit to Pop’s, tried (and failed) to add some chapters to the novel he’d been writing, and then laid in his bed staring at the ceiling for what had felt like hours. The sleep had just failed to overtake him, because his mind had been reeling from everything Betty had revealed to him.

Even now, Jughead wasn’t sure what to feel. He was at least somewhat happy that Betty had finally opened up to him, but his joy was eclipsed entirely by a mixture of concern, anger, and despair at what she’d told him. He couldn’t stop thinking about the Betty Cooper he had known as a child, the girl with the sunshine hair and the most natural kindness. In what little interactions he’d had with her the past few days, Jughead could still see glimpses of that girl in her.

 

But he didn’t see those glimpses in her forced smiles or in her habitual politeness; he saw them in her sadness. He saw them in the droop of her shoulders, the downward tilt of her mouth, the scars on her palms. In the time between their childhood and now, the world had somehow trampled the _real_ Betty Cooper. It had beaten her into submission, sanded her edges, and silenced her voice.

 

But Jughead wanted—no, he was _determined—_ to bring that real Betty Cooper back.

 

He saw so much of his own struggles in her, anyway. Jughead had spent a lot his adolescence purposely trying to lower people’s expectations of him. For a while he had _wanted_ to be viewed as Southside trash, a good-for-nothing trailer park boy who would never make it anywhere except into the Serpents’ ranks. Because if no one had high expectations of him—if no one really saw who he was or who he truly desired to be—, then he wouldn’t disappoint anyone, including himself. So he had squashed his dreams of being a novelist or moving out of Riverdale to somewhere big like New York, wanting to distance himself from the person he had been when his mother had still been around.

 

After all, his insecurities were all because of his mother.

 

That was something he held in common with Betty, as he had found out on their walk to her house. She hadn't allowed him to come anywhere near the threshold, saying something about her mother killing them both if she had seen him with her. Betty hadn’t spoken much about Alice's roll in her life up to that point, but Jughead still remembered the way she had cowered under her stare as a child. He knew in his gut that Betty's need for perfection stemmed from Alice's expectations of her daughter.

 

But Jughead’s troubles, though centered around his mother, were very different than Betty’s in a lot of ways. Gladys had been an extremely nurturing figure in his life when she’d still lived at home. She had been the exact opposite of Alice Cooper in that respect. So her departure with Jellybean, when it happened, had snapped something within him and caused him to put on a persona of carelessness. It was his survival instinct.

 

Whereas Betty’s façade was her attempt to _earn_ her mother’s love, Jughead’s façade was his attempt to pretend he didn’t _want_ his mother’s love.

 

But he was much better at managing those insecurities now. With the help of Archie and Fred, who had constantly supported him and reminded him that he _was_ loved and that he _did_ have people who believed he could be more than his circumstances, Jughead had eventually gotten to a place where he didn’t feel the need to be so closed off all the time. He still struggled with the urge to hide behind his walls, of course, but he was much more open to accepting affection and showing it in return these days.

 

And now, Jughead could only hope that he might help Betty get to the same place.

 

When he walked up behind the girl in question as she rummaged through her locker, he felt a sudden burst in confidence. She had already opened up to him once, so she couldn’t just go back to hiding behind her mask again—not with him.

 

“Hey Betts,” Jughead said, startling her just like yesterday. She jumped in the same adorable manner, but this time she turned to him with some semblance of an actual smile.

 

“Hey Jug,” Betty said. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a motion that Jughead was growing quite fond of.

 

“Any luck with that time portal today?” Jughead asked as he leaned on the locker next to hers. He grinned.

 

“Maybe…” Betty responded after a pause. There was a ghost of a smile forming on her lips, and she looked down at her feet. Once again, he had the sudden urge to know everything she was thinking.

 

“Now, Betty Cooper. If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you’re holding out on me. What is it that’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked, leaning his head down and looking up to meet her gaze.

 

Abruptly, Betty straightened her posture, startling Jughead. Had he just triggered her into putting on her façade again? She stared directly into his face, sapping his confidence with the intensity of her eyes.

 

He was about to apologize—for what, he didn’t know—when she tilted her head and placed a warm hand on his shoulder.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Jones?”

 

Jughead struggled to keep his mouth from falling open as the morning bell rang. Betty smirked at him— _smirked!_ —, and brushed fake dust off his shoulder before turning on her heel to walk to her classroom. He was glued to the spot as he watched her saunter away, her golden ponytail swishing along with her steps.

 

Just before she turned the corner, Betty paused and looked back over her shoulder at Jughead. He could barely make it out, but he thought he heard her giggle. Something in his stomach fluttered.

 

“Oh, and Juggie?” she said just loud enough for him to hear from where he was standing. Any trace of laughter died on her face and morphed into a more serious expression. “If you really _would_ like to know…” As she trailed off, she broke eye contact to look at the floor. Within seconds, though, she lifted her gaze back to his face. “You know where to find me.”

 

By this point, Jughead’s heart was unabashedly hammering in his chest. He had lost every grain of his earlier confidence, and now his brain was completely failing him as he tried to form the words to respond to Betty. She was still looking at him, her expression so open.

 

When he failed to respond, Betty turned back toward her destination and began to walk again. Jughead was flustered, but he didn’t want leave her honesty hanging in the air unacknowledged, so he scrambled after her. She disappeared around the corner quite a few paces in front of him. He was all-out jogging now, but he didn’t care.

 

“Betty Cooper!” Jughead yelled as he rounded the corner. By this point, he had gained a lot of attention from the bystanders in the hallway. He saw Betty still as she reached out to open the door to her classroom, and he knew she was listening. “You and me, today, after school. Let me take you somewhere," he shouted.

 

Jughead couldn’t believe the words even as they came out of his mouth. Here he was, asking out _Betty Cooper_ , with the impending possibility of _rejection_ , in front of _dozens of people_. What was he doing? Who was he?

 

But she looked over at him, smiling so genuinely that he could see the glow on her face from across the hallway. She nodded, and he knew in that moment that it was all worth it.

"Great,” Jughead yelled, grinning back at her. “It’s a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, you guys! I hope everyone had a restful and wonderful Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it, that is). I tried to write some heartwarming fluff, because, let's be real, I think we needed it after the last couple of chapters.
> 
> Comments are much appreciated. And once again, please connect with me on Tumblr at bettycoopergal! I promise I don't bite :)


	11. A Two-Way Street

Betty glanced nervously at the clock and chewed on the end of her pencil. Her final class of the day was about to let out, and she could feel the waves of anxiety washing over her at the thought of her date with Jughead. On the surface, it didn’t seem like such a big deal—he had asked her casually, and it was an after school meet-up, not a fancy dinner. Plus, it’s not like Betty had never been on a date before. In fact, she’d been on quite a few.

 

But none of those dates had ever amounted to anything. Most were one-and-done sort of situations, and the only one that wasn’t was with Archie, who she had only dated for about a month years ago because they both felt like they were supposed to. Sure, she had cared about Archie ever since their play dates in his backyard, but it had turned out that it wasn’t really in a romantic way.

 

So, yes, Betty Cooper had been out on the town a time or two—but never like this.

 

This was something different, and she knew it. Jughead made Betty feel… well, _alive_. And _real_. And _worthy_. And she was feeling these things just days after becoming re-acquainted with him.

 

But, most importantly, Jughead knew Betty in a way that no one else did. He’d seen her darkness, taken care of her in her moment of weakness. She didn’t quite understand why he’d want to take her on a date after seeing all of that, but he did, and it scared her. Because no matter how much she tried to deny it, Betty knew that this thing she had going with Jughead could be something real.

 

The bell rang, breaking her train of thought. Betty sat frozen in her desk as her anxiety started to become unmanageable. _Breathe, just breathe_ , she thought. She closed her eyes and imagined Jughead’s face when he’d yelled at her from across the hall to ask her out. He’d looked incredibly flustered, but so sincere at the same time. Betty felt a smile forming on her lips. _You can do this_ , she thought. _It could make you happy_.

 

She opened her eyes and began to gather her books with a newfound energy. That last thought was something that had been at the back of Betty’s mind ever since she’d agreed to go to the dance with Jughead. Of course, she hadn’t wanted to entertain it, because the idea of her actually being happy had seemed so foreign and unattainable for so long. But now, maybe it was time to stop avoiding it. Maybe it was time to actually get her hopes up. The thought terrified Betty, but it was the first glimmer of light she’d seen in a long time, and she wanted to cling to it.

 

As she exited the room, she was startled to find Jughead waiting for her outside. He was leaning against the lockers on the other side of the hall, looking decidedly less frazzled than he had been earlier. There was a faint trace of a smirk on his face as he met her eyes.

 

“You ready?” he asked.

 

Betty felt a jolt of butterflies deep in her stomach at his words. She seemed to have lost her voice for the moment, so she nodded in affirmation.

 

Jughead smiled at her then, sauntering over and offering her his elbow in a goofy fashion. “M’lady,” he said in the most horrible British accent Betty had ever heard.

 

She giggled and took his arm. She saw his smile widen out of the corner of her eye.

 

Jughead brought her out to the parking lot and to an old pickup truck that Betty didn’t recognize. “It’s my dad’s,” he said by way of explanation. “Normally I carpool with Archie, but the construction site Dad’s working on for the next couple of weeks is right down the road, so he let me use his truck today.”

 

Betty thought it was awfully convenient that today was the day that he’d driven himself to school, but she didn’t question it. Maybe it was the universe’s way of telling her that this was meant to happen.

 

Jughead opened the passenger door and helped Betty into her seat before walking around to the driver’s side. “You know,” he said as he closed the door and buckled his seatbelt, “Contrary to what you might think, I don’t actually like the sound of my own voice this much.” He turned to face her. “What is going on in that head of yours, Betty Cooper?”

 

It was the same thing he had asked her at school earlier today. Yet again, it surprised her. Betty was used to being talked over, to being unnoticed and invisible. She had often found herself spending hours with people, never saying a word, while no one noticed. But here was Jughead, recognizing her silence instantly and asking her to talk to him. And the crazy part was that she knew he actually meant it—he really did want to know what she was thinking.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Betty said, repeating her earlier response. But this time, her voice was much softer and had lost all of its humor.

 

Jughead stared at her, letting the silence linger without making any move to start the truck. After a pause, he spoke. “I would like to know,” he said. “It’s why we’re here.”

 

Betty sighed, shifting in her seat. Even after everything he had done for her, she still had a hard time fully trusting him. It wasn’t _him_ , really—it was just people in general. She really wanted to get to know Jughead better, but she realized that it would be difficult to do that if she didn’t offer up any of herself in return.

 

“You don’t have to say anything now, Betts. But… You should know that I won’t stop trying,” Jughead said softly, noticing her discomfort. He twisted forward and turned the key in the ignition. As he pulled the truck out of the parking lot, Betty kept her eyes locked on his face. He didn’t seem disappointed in her, which is what she had expected. Instead, he just seemed… understanding. And in that moment she realized that he really meant what he had said. He wasn’t going to pressure her to do something she didn’t want to do, but he wasn’t going to give up either.

 

“I really like detective novels,” Betty said in a voice so quiet that even she could barely hear it. Jughead glanced at her, his eyes dancing with surprise and interest. “My parents want me to be a journalist, and, yeah, I like writing articles, but I’m not so sure that’s what I’m meant to do with my life. I always had this dream growing up that I would be like Nancy Drew when I got older. I know it’s silly, but I can’t help but feel like I’m letting my own dreams go to satisfy my parents’ dreams.”

 

Betty swallowed, fighting the urge to sink her nails into the familiar crescents on her palms. She had never said any of this out loud before.

 

Jughead reached over and placed his hand on hers, sensing her anxiety. She tensed up in fear of how he was going to respond.

 

“You would make a _badass_ Nancy Drew,” he said.

 

Betty was silent for a moment, and then she burst into giggles. “ _Juggie_ ,” she laughed, trying to catch her breath. “Is that all you’re going to say?” She was wiping tears from her eyes now.

 

Jughead shrugged, grinning. “What? It’s the truth.”

 

Betty turned her hand over so she could lace her fingers through his. She gave his hand a squeeze, hoping he would know without her having to say it: _thank you_. He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand, and she knew that he understood.

 

“So, Betty Cooper,” Jughead said, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over them. “I think I’ve held off long enough without asking you the most important question.”

 

Betty felt her anxiety creeping back up as she wondered what he was about to ask.

 

“What’s your favorite movie? And _please_ don’t tell me it’s something by Nicholas Sparks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh finally the date! Next chapter, we'll get Jug's perspective as they do what he's planned for her. 
> 
> Let me know what you think! You guys are the best <3


	12. Secrets in the Trees

Jughead Jones was on a date with Betty Cooper. _Betty Cooper_! How had so much in his life changed in just a few short days? He wasn’t used to this kind of luck—to taking a beautiful girl out on a date and feeling optimistic that she might actually be enjoying his company. And yet, here he was, listening to Betty ramble on animatedly about why oatmeal raisin cookies were the best kind of cookies.

 

Once he had asked her about her favorite movie, the conversation had turned into a heated discussion about the merits of the romance genre versus the horror genre. Jughead was quickly learning that Betty was passionate about a lot of things and was an excellent persuader. And he would admit it over his dead body, but she might have actually convinced him to reconsider his previously unwavering hatred of romantic films. It was maybe one of his favorite things about her so far, he thought.

 

“And _Jug_ , if you under-bake them just a little bit, they get soft and mushy and taste like heaven. You can make them with healthier ingredients if you want to, or you can load them with sugar. You can even add coconut if you’re feeling spunky! There are just so many _options_.” Betty waved her hands around excitedly, bouncing in her seat. Jughead despised oatmeal raisin cookies, but the way she described them was really starting to make his mouth water.

 

“Betts, let me tell you why oatmeal raisin cookies are the _worst_ ,” he said as he put his blinker on, turning onto a different street. Betty looked over at him with a face of utter disbelief, like she couldn’t actually believe that anyone would say such a despicable thing. Jughead couldn’t help but chuckle at her expression. “Imagine this: I’m walking into Archie’s house late one night. I’m starving, because it’s been, like, two hours since I’ve eaten.” Betty rolled her eyes and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a grin. “And on the kitchen counter are these _delicious_ looking chocolate chip cookies. I think _just my luck_ , and I walk right over to the kitchen and grab one. I swipe some milk from the fridge, pour it in a glass, dip a cookie, and eat the whole thing in one bite.” He stopped then, looking over at her.

 

“And?” Betty asked. Jughead fought a smile at the way she was clearly trying to hide how much she was invested in the story. She had leaned in closer to him as he spoke, probably unintentionally. He had to suppress the urge to reach out and hold her hand.

 

“And,” he said, “you can imagine my distaste when it turned out that they weren’t chocolate chip cookies at all. They were _oatmeal raisin_. I almost threw up, Betty!”

 

Betty, somehow not having seen this twist coming, snorted ungracefully and immediately gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “Sorry,” she mumbled, her cheeks reddening.

 

There was a pause when they just stared at each other. And then, without warning, Jughead burst into a fit of laughter that started all the way in his gut and bellowed out louder than he had even thought was possible. Betty responded immediately, giggling uncontrollably. It took a long time for their laughter to die down, and by the end they were both holding their stomachs and wiping their eyes. It was the first time Jughead had laughed that heartily in probably over a year, and he could only guess that it might have been a similar story for Betty.

 

Jughead pulled the truck into the intended destination while both of them smiled stupidly. “Juggie,” Betty said, still laughing a little as she spoke. “Where are we?”

 

He put the truck in park and unbuckled his seatbelt, turning to look at her. “Listen, Betty,” Jughead said. He swallowed loudly and brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. “I, uh… I don’t really have a lot of experience planning dates, or even hanging out with anyone one-on-one except for Archie, so I don’t know if I’m doing this right.”

 

Betty tilted her head, a slightly amused expression crossing her features. “Juggie, I could just sit in this car with you for the next hour and it would be a wonderful date.” Her cheeks turned a little pink as the words came out of her mouth. He waited for her to speak again, but she made no effort to retract what she’d said.

 

Jughead smiled, feeling like he’d finally gotten to see a piece of the real Betty Cooper. “So, there aren’t a lot of places that are important to me,” he said as he lowered his eyes to her hand that was resting lightly on the console next to him. “Pop’s is definitely one of them, but we just went there. And then there’s the drive-in, but I didn’t really want to take you there, because… well…” Jughead could feel himself blushing. He didn’t know why he’d just brought that up.

 

He nearly jumped out of his seat when he felt something on his hand. He looked over to see Betty’s hand resting gently over his on top of his leg, her fingers curling around toward his palm. Jughead struggled to stop himself from blushing even harder. His heart was beating erratically, but he tried to keep his expression unchanged.

 

“What is it?” she prompted, breaking him out of his thoughts.

 

“Um, well… I didn’t want to take you there because I thought… you know… well, I just really like talking to you. And I thought that if we went to see a movie, then we wouldn’t really get to do that as much.” Jughead continued to stare at Betty’s hand where it rested over his. He didn’t know why he was so embarrassed to look at her.

 

“Jug…” Betty said, causing him to finally meet her eyes. “I think that’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.” She smiled then, and it was so genuine that Jughead wanted to take a picture of it. It gave him all the courage he needed.

 

“Well, anyway, that left only one other place to take you,” he finished, flipping his hand over under hers and squeezing it. “Do you want to see it?”

 

Betty nodded, and before he knew it they were walking across the abandoned field that Jughead knew so well. He could tell she was curious as to where they were going, but he didn’t want to give it away. Wordlessly, he stopped as they reached the edge of the forest where the field ended. He reached backward to grab Betty’s hand, giving her an encouraging smile before stepping into the woods.

 

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the familiar clearing, and Jughead could hear Betty’s sharp intake of breath behind him. He turned to face her, eager to see her reaction.

 

“Jug, it’s _amazing_ ,” she said, looking up at the giant four-story tree house in front of her. It didn’t look like much, having been shoddily built in the first place and with the wood rotted in places from years of weathering. But Betty was looking at it like it was a castle, and Jughead wanted to hug her right then and there. “Can we go up in it?” she asked, brimming with excitement.

 

Jughead nodded. “Yeah, but be careful, okay Betts? This thing is pretty old.” He gestured for her to follow as he walked over to the makeshift ladder he’d built all those years ago. Slowly, he climbed, with Betty following him, until they reached the very top. Jughead crawled onto it, ushering her up behind him. The top floor wasn’t much of a floor at all. It consisted of a single piece of plywood haphazardly hammered above the third story, with no walls or ceiling. It was the perfect place to look up at the treetops, which had been one of Jughead’s favorite hobbies growing up.

 

Once they were both seated comfortably on the wood, Jughead stretched out and lay down on his back. Betty followed suit instantly. They both looked up at the canopy of leaves above them in silence. Trying not to overthink it, Jughead reached over and grabbed Betty’s hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. He didn’t look to see her expression, but he could feel her smiling next to him. It made him smile too.

 

“So what’s the story?” Betty asked, breaking the silence. She gestured with her free hand to the trees around them.

 

“When I was younger, I always wanted to build a tree house with…” he stopped. Jughead wanted to be completely honest with Betty, especially after all she’d shared with him. But now that he was faced with the challenge, his throat suddenly felt very dry. “I always wanted to build a tree house,” he started again. He would tell her about his dad, of course, and his whole messed up family situation, but maybe now just wasn’t the right time. “And, well… life just sort of kept getting in the way for a while.” It wasn’t a lie; it was just a version of the truth. “So when I turned thirteen, I just up and decided that I’d had enough. I was going to build myself a tree house like I’d always wanted to.”

 

Betty was watching him now. He could feel her eyes on him. “At the time, there was a lot going on in my life, and building this tree house… it felt like the only thing I could control. So I walked around to different construction sites every weekend looking for wood scraps, and I used what little money I had saved up from sporadic allowances on tools. I snuck here, to this spot, every day after school and worked on it. I even went to the public library at one point to try to find information on how to properly build it.” Jughead smiled, remembering his adolescent determination. “It took half the year, but I finally finished it,” he said.

 

Betty turned onto her side to face him, still clutching his hand. “That’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever heard of a thirteen-year-old boy doing,” she said.

 

Jughead chuckled. “Middle school boys get a bad wrap,” he said. Betty raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay, so they’re generally awful. But sometimes they can be decent.”

 

She smiled and scooted closer to him on the plywood, finally coming to a stop when their shoulders were touching. “Sometimes they can be _amazing_ ,” she said.

 

Jughead had never actually been on a date before in his entire life. But he was absolutely sure in that moment that even if he had been on a million, this date would top every single one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, friends. Life has been crazy lately. But I sure did enjoy writing this, and I hope you like it!
> 
> Comments are so, so, so appreciated! :)


	13. A Lily in White

The next day was like a dream for Betty. For the first time in months, she woke up to the sound of her alarm and got out of bed without a struggle. For the first time in maybe a year, she noticed just how brightly the sun was shining down on her as she walked from the parking lot to the double doors of the school. And for the first time in what felt like her whole life, she greeted the inside of her locker with a 100% genuine smile.

 

Her date with Jughead had gone so well yesterday that it was truly difficult for her to believe. He’d been so respectful and kind, and they’d connected on levels that Betty hadn’t even thought possible. He’d tried to open up to her a little bit, and it had meant the world to her. It had been his way of telling her that he wasn’t going anywhere—that he wasn’t running from the things she hid from the world, and that he had his own things to hide. She could only hope that he would continue to be honest with her, because she could tell that there was so much more to the story than what he’d divulged.

 

“Betty, hey, I’ve been looking for you all morning. I have something for you,” she heard the boy in question say over her shoulder as she rummaged through her locker. She made a show of organizing the books inside, doing her best to refrain from turning around. She didn’t know why, but she felt like teasing him today.

 

“Bet-ty,” he said again, tapping her on the shoulder. He leaned against the lockers next to hers and stared at her expectantly.

 

When Betty didn’t respond, Jughead let out a frustrated puff of air that landed on the back of her neck, and she immediately felt goosebumps rising all over her skin. He flicked the end of her ponytail with his finger and inched his face closer to hers. “I’ve got something that I think you’ll like,” he whispered in what could only be described as a shockingly sultry tone.

 

Betty’s cheeks began to flame without her consent, but she still maintained her composure. “And hello to you too, Jughead,” she said, closing her locker door and finally turning to look at him. The smirk she’d been sporting now dropped completely off her face as she saw what he was holding. It was a single white lily with a light pink ribbon tied around it.

 

He extended it toward her with a sheepish smile. Betty took it and cradled it delicately against her chest. “It’s beautiful, Juggie,” she said. “But why?”

 

Jughead shrugged, but his grin gave away how pleased he was at her reaction. “I went to buy your corsage yesterday—which I got in white, by the way, because the lady at the flower shop said it would go with everything, so don’t worry about whatever color you decide to wear…”

 

“Jug,” Betty interrupted, smiling.

 

“Right, right. So, anyway, the shop lady was making conversation with me about the dance, which was so painfully awkward…”

 

“Jug!” she laughed.

 

“Okay, okay! Anyway, she wanted to know the story about how I’d asked you to the dance. You know, since ‘prom-posals are _in_ right now.’” He used his fingers to form quotation marks in the air as he spoke. “And then I went into a catatonic state of silence, because I didn’t know what to say.” Betty rolled her eyes and smiled. He was never going to get to the point.

 

“But the rest of that story is neither here nor there, because the real reason I’m telling you all this is that I feel like you deserved one of those grand gestures, but you never got one. So, yeah. This is me, on a limited budget, taking a shot in the dark and guessing you actually like lilies, asking if you would go to the dance with me,” he finished.

 

Betty looked at Jughead in awe. How had so much changed in her life in such a short amount of time? How was it that a week ago, she could feel herself disappearing, but now she had someone who saw even the parts of her that she couldn’t see herself? Who knew that Jughead Jones, the resident loner weirdo, was actually the softest, kindest, most selfless person? Betty wanted to melt just looking at the sincerity in his eyes and the beauty of the flower he’d given her.

 

“How are you even real?” she blurted out before she could stop herself. Just as she was beginning to feel embarrassed, though, she caught the pure look of happiness in Jughead’s features. 

 

“Is that a yes?” he asked. He was clearly trying to be cheeky, but he missed the mark a little, sounding more nervous than Betty thought he had a reason to.

 

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course it is, Jug. For the—what is it?— _third_ time, I’d love to go to the dance with you.”

 

He engulfed her in the warmest hug before she even had a chance to process what he was doing. She let out a long sigh behind his ear. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this full.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I know this chapter is short but I really wanted to get it out there because I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO LONG!! I am incredibly sorry for the delay. I gotta be real with y'all, life has been kinda tough for me lately. But I'm currently feeling the inspiration spark back up for this fic, so I'm hoping the chapters will start to flow like normal again.
> 
> I actually think we're about 5-ish chapters from the end of the fic (ahhh!). There's definitely some angst still to come and some loose ends from the early chapters to tie up, so I hope that you can all forgive me for my hiatus and re-strap yourselves in for the remaining storyline. I promise it's all planned out, and I promise I've got good things in store (eventually) for our favorite duo. ;) Thanks each and every one of you for your patience and support!


	14. Dress for Success

“Dude, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this dressed up,” Archie said, reaching out to tug on his best friend’s tie. Jughead huffed and rolled his eyes, taking one last glance in the mirror. What he said had some truth; he’d never had a need or desire to dress in formal wear until now. But he was beginning to learn that he would do almost anything when it came to Betty.

 

“Arch, can I ask you something?” Jughead said suddenly, turning to face his friend.

 

Archie grinned. “Nervous?”

 

At this, Jughead scoffed. “Hardly.” There was a pause in which an uncomfortable feeling akin to fluttering stirred in his stomach. “Okay, maybe just a little bit. But that’s not what I was going to say!”

 

Archie laughed in that good-natured way of his, and it put Jughead at ease. “You’ll do just fine, Jug,” he said.

 

Jughead sighed, walking over to where Archie was seated on his bed. “Thanks,” he muttered as he sank onto the comforter next to him.

 

“So, what were you going to ask me?” Archie asked, leaning back onto the headboard to get a better look at his friend.

 

Jughead rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his knees. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, okay? It’s just a question,” he started, bouncing his leg anxiously. Archie nodded, encouraging him to continue. “The other day, at lunch, when Betty… When she got up and left the table. Why, uh… Why didn’t you guys go after her? With me, I mean… Why didn’t you go after her too?”

 

The silence was deafening, and for a moment Jughead was worried he’d just seriously offended him. He was frantically thinking of ways to backtrack when Archie finally spoke.

 

“Was it… Was she really upset about something?”

 

Jughead looked up, and now it was Archie who was casting his gaze downward. He didn’t know how to respond without betraying Betty’s trust, so he remained silent.

 

Archie seemed to understand this decision, taking it in stride. “Look, this is probably going to sound terrible, but… My first priority is Ronnie, and it’s always going to be Ronnie. I needed to make sure she was okay before either of us went running after Betty.”

 

Jughead furrowed his brow. “Why wouldn’t Veronica be okay? It was Betty who was upset.”

 

Archie sighed, nodding. “Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but… Look, without saying too much, Ronnie’s been dealing with a lot lately. And, from her perspective, Betty’s been acting really weird around her. Ronnie says she’s been cold and distant, and she doesn’t know how to deal with it. She’s been torn up about it, honestly. She can tell something’s going on, but she doesn’t know how to fix it and can’t really deal with it on top of everything that’s going on in her personal life.”

 

Jughead took a moment to consider everything Archie was saying. His immediate reaction was anger. Betty’s best friends were too worried about their own problems to get to the bottom of hers, and the idea that Betty was something to “deal with” made his blood boil. But he wanted to gather his thoughts before he just attacked Archie, so he ruminated a little more on what he had said.

 

“First off, Betty isn’t something to ‘deal with,’ Arch,” he said gently. His best friend had never been one with words, so Jughead thought that maybe he should lovingly correct Archie rather than bite his head off for word choice. “I think you know that.”

 

Archie’s lips parted in a pained expression. “Yeah, sorry, poor wording… I love Betty, and so does Ronnie. We just want what’s best for her, want her to be happy. Of course.”

 

Jughead nodded. He tried to look at things from Archie’s perspective, remembering that he’d never been good at reading people or understanding when they were suffering. Jughead knew that better than anyone—knew that having a friend like Archie meant unconditional support, but only when he knew it was needed. Recognizing other people’s pain was not his strong suit, but he did his best to try, and that was the beauty in having him as a friend.

 

“It’s not your fault that you don’t know what’s going on with Betty,” Jughead said finally, releasing his anger with a shaky breath. “But Arch, you have to understand something.” Archie nodded, clearly relieved that his friend's stiffened posture was now becoming a little more relaxed. “Being there for Betty—being there for any friend, really—shouldn’t depend on whether or not she comes to you with her problems. It’s much harder to support someone when they’re distant, yes, but sometimes it’s all you can do. _You’re_ the one who taught me that.”

 

Archie smiled at that, catching the upward quirk of Jughead’s lips.

 

“You were always there for me, even when you didn’t know exactly what was going on, even when I did everything I could to push you away. _That’s_ what makes you a great friend.”

 

Jughead couldn’t remember a time when he was this open with Archie. Vulnerability didn’t come easily to him, and he usually wasn’t this good with words when they weren’t on his computer screen. But his feelings for Betty, whatever they were, were deep. They made him do all sorts of things that he’d never thought possible.

 

“Could you and Veronica maybe do the same for Betty?” Jughead asked, looking into Archie’s eyes with what he was sure was a pleading expression. He knew how much Betty’s friends meant to her, and he knew that they loved her just as much. They just didn’t quite know how to help her, and if Jughead could give them a push in the right direction, he would do it a thousand times over.

 

Archie grinned. “Yeah, bro. Of course,” he said.

 

Jughead narrowed his eyes. “Why so smug?” he asked, watching as his friend's smile turned into a satisfied smirk.

 

“Oh, nothing,” he said as he popped up from the bed to straighten his tie in the mirror. “It’s just that you’ve never once come to me and outright asked for help for yourself, but apparently you’ll do it for Betty.”

 

Jughead could feel his face turning red, so he flopped backward onto the bed to avoid the pair of eyes staring at him in the mirror's reflection. “Yeah, well…” he said, failing to think of a good retort.

 

Archie picked up Jughead’s dress shoes from the floor and chucked them at his best friend’s head.

 

“Jughead Jones,” Archie said, laughing. "You are absolutely screwed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Bughead interaction in this chapter, but I hope it's still full of fluffy goodness. Next chapter we'll get a much needed conversation between Betty and Veronica, and then it's off to the long-awaited dance! Thanks as always for sticking with me and commenting. You guys rock!


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